Lani's tale
by Neri Maxwell
Summary: *ABANDONED* Lani is a student attending the same school as the gw characters. confusion and other stuff enues.*chapter 6 is up*
1. Meet Lani

A/N: Hi there!!!! This is my first fic ever, so please be patient with me. After you read this, review, or else no more chapters! Hehehe! I know I'm mean, but my self-confidence is the pits and I'm not posting any more of this story unless there's a demand for it. Any review is accepted, flames or otherwise, I don't really care. My fic is set like this: endless waltz never happened, there is peace between Earth and the colonies, but the gundam boys still get missions to help maintain the peace.  
  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Gundam Wing or any of the characters, however much I wish I did (I could make Duo love me!!*grin*) Lani, however, is mine. I invented her, I named her, for God's sake I practically am her. (She lived in my head for a while before I wrote the fic.) Lani's friend Jessica is mine too (I named her after my friend Jess.)  
  
Original Characters  
  
  
  
Lani Kalimao: Lani is a Hawaiian girl, 15, with long black hair. She's average height, kinda skinny, in short,  
  
she's beautiful. (Lani is Hawaiian for "heavenly.") Secretly she's in love with one of the gundam pilots. Who could it be.? She was born in outer space, the L2 colony cluster, actually. When she was five, she and her parents relocated to the Earth, one of the small Hawaiian islands and her parents became part of a secret underground resistance opposing OZ and the alliance. At 13, she went to the Sanq Kingdom for schooling. Two years later is when the story begins.  
  
Jessica Johnston: Jessica is an extremely tall girl with long brown hair. She was born on Earth, in North America someplace. Unlike Lani, she's never traveled. She went strait from her home to her Sanq kingdom school.  
  
I didn't write Lani's song lyrics. My pal Shannara Harper wrote them. Thanks for the poem dude!!*hug*(//lyrics//)  
  
Lani sat at her desk, tapping her pen thoughtfully on it. She scribbled down a few last words and sighed. "Here goes nothing." She muttered to herself, reaching over to the laptop sitting on the corner of the desk. She hit a few keys quickly and music began playing quietly. Lani picked up her paper and softly sand the lyrics she was writing to the music. //Forever and always I'll be by your side, Till the end of eternity My love I won't hide. Though I know you can't see me, Or feel my caress, Forever and always My love you'll know best. // "For God's sake!" She screamed as she finished. She let out an ear- piercing shriek and dropped her head to the desk with a loud thud. She crumpled up her paper and let it drop to the floor. Lani turned her head as she heard a soft knock on the door. She groaned quietly before answering. "Come in." Lani said, turning her head back to the floor. "Is everything all right?" Asked a familiar voice as the door opened. Lani sighed and straightened up, turning towards her guest. "Hi Relena. Yea, I'm fine, I just can't get this to fit." She replied, putting her hands on top of her head and leaning back. Relena smiled and came farther into the room, closing the door gently behind her. "What are you working on?" She asked coming over to Lani and smiling down at the beautiful Hawaiian girl. Lani bent down to the floor and lifted her crumpled song. "The last of my summer assignments," she said with a sigh. "A creative writing thing. I've got to write a song." "How much have you finished?" Relena asked as she took the paper and smoothed it out. Lani sighed again. "Everything, except those retarded lyrics." Lani told her friend, gesturing towards the paper in Relena's hands. "I just can't make them fit the tune properly." Relena looked at her questioningly. Lani gazed up at her, hoping that Relena would give her some sort of advice. "Why didn't you write the lyrics first?" Relena asked. " This is beautiful, if everything you write is this good, it shouldn't be hard to put it to music. Right?" Lani sighed, that hadn't been what she was hoping for. "Thanks for the compliment Relena. I did the music first for a very good reason, actually. I'm probably the last person to say anything good about me, but I'll admit, I'm not a bad poet. I was sure I could write something for the music in no time." Lani said. Relena giggled and moved over to Lani's bed. "What?" Lani asked, turning towards Relena as the girl sat down. "Who did you write this about?" Relena asked, fighting, unsuccessfully, to keep the laughter out of her voice. She held up the paper, her hand shaking as she fought to contain her giggles. Lani felt herself turn red. Few could tell when she did that, because of her darkened skin, but Relena was one of those who could, and right now, Lani was redder than she'd ever been. "No.no one." She stammered as Relena burst into a fit of giggles. Lani frowned at her friend. Some friend, she thought, So what if I've got a crush on someone. Everyone knows that she's totally head over heels for that Heero guy. A cruel grin spread across Lani's face. She knew just what to say to Relena. "It's for Heero Yuy," she told Relena. "I'm in love with him. Actually, we've been secret lovers for years."  
  
To be continued..maybe.  
  
A/N: Oooooooh. Neri's a baaaaad girl. Shouln't've ended there. Well, I guess that'll make every one want more. If you want another chapter, review and say so for God's sake! Even if you thought it stunk, tell me. I wanna know. And if you have any writing tips, give me those too, I can always use 'em. Oh. One more thing. My name is one of those things where you take the first letter of a few words and put them together to form something to help you remember it all. I don't know what they're called. If you can guess what it is, I'll e-mail you an advance on the next chapter. So if you wanna guess, e-mail me at Leilani_Mao@hotmail.com. (for the "R", think of the 3 "r's")If there's a demand for the next chapter, I'll have another contest type thingy. 


	2. The Visitor

Disclaimer: I'm too lazy to type this again. Same thing goes as in the first chapter.  
  
A/N: Congratulations!!!! Good reviews equal new chapters!! I've got three things to say this time. First, thanks to my anonymous reviewer and two personal reviews from my friends, I've decided to put up chapter two. Second, I'd like to take this chance to apologize for not accepting anonymous reviews before, I didn't realize I wasn't, but I fixed it and now I do. Third, I looked over chapter one and decided that I'm going to change the formatting a bit to make it easier to read. (I hope it works!!) Fourth, (I know I said I only had three things to say, but I thought of something else.) I've been reading and I noticed that quite a few people are incorporating fans into their stories, and I thought to myself, "That's a really cool idea." So now, I'm going to do that. If you can tell me in less than say.30 words why you should be in the story, I'll give you the Gundam boy (or any other Gundam Wing character) of your choice. I may have to rewrite my notebook a bit, but if it's good enough, I'll be more than happy to do that. Just be sure to mention who you want and your sex, just so I know if I need to change my rating or add a warning. (Put everything in the review please.)  
  
And now the story!!!!  
  
Lani grinned as Relena suddenly stopped laughing and blanched. She stared at Lani, her eyes pleading.  
  
"Really?" she asked quietly.  
  
Lani laughed as she picked up her pen and began rolling it through her fingers.  
  
"Nah." She told Relena. "Everyone knows you're head over heels for the guy."  
  
Relena turned a brilliant shade of crimson as she picked up a pillow and it at Lani, who caught it bearly an inch from her face and dropped it to the floor.  
  
"How do you do that?" Relena asked  
  
"I had training when I was young, but pillows are easy to catch, all big and fluffy and stuff." Lani said, poking at the fallen pillow with her foot.  
  
"So?" Relena asked suddenly  
  
"So what?" Lani replied as she doodled in her notebook  
  
"Who'd you write the song for?" Relena asked as she returned to her normal shade. Lani's hand froze on the paper. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
(That night)  
  
"I'll see you guys tomorrow." Lani called out to the group of girls she had just separated from.  
  
"Bye Lan." Jessica called back to her with a wave. (A/N: Jessica is Lani's best friend remember.)  
  
Lani smiled to herself as she walked down the corridor to her room. She'd been out to the city with her friends and now she wanted nothing more than to climb into bed and sleep. She opened the door and screamed shortly. (A/N: like an eeep.) There was someone there waiting. As she opened the door he stood and smiled at her.  
  
"Sorry if I scared you. Relena said it'd be okay if I waited for you in here." He said. Lani just gaped at him for a minute.  
  
"Excuse me a moment." She said and left quickly, closing the door behind her.  
  
Keeping her hand on the doorknob, she reached over to the next door, Relena's room, and knocked. Relena opened the door and beamed as she saw Lani. Lani glared at her. She was sure Relena thought she did a good thing, something wonderfully kind, but she was wrong.  
  
"How could you let him in there?" Lani demanded in a whisper.  
  
Relena just continued to grin, blissfully unaware of her mistake.  
  
How could she know? Lani thought. Jess is the only one who really knows. What a bad time for this to happen.  
  
"You don't need to thank me." Relena said as she stated to smooth out Lani's hair  
  
"I'm not." Lani muttered under her breath, pushing Relena's hands away. Relena just continued to smile at her.  
  
"Just go in there and tell him how you feel. It's just that easy." She said.  
  
Lani glowered at her honey-haired neighbor.  
  
" 'Just that easy' huh?" She asked hotly. "Why don't you go over to the boys housing and tell Heero how you feel, if it's 'just that easy'."  
  
Lani felt a surge of satisfaction as the smile vanished from Relena's face, but it was soon quelled by the familiar wet sheen on Relena's eyes that meant she was about to cry  
  
I'm too nice for my own good. Lani thought with a sigh  
  
"Sorry." She muttered softly, opening the door to her room. She shot Relena a smile before she stepped in and closed the door.  
  
A/N: Yeah, that's it for now, it's getting to a good part and I want people to come back for more. Who is Lani's visitor, and what does he want? How much stupider will Relena get? find out if I post chapter 3. I talked a lot at the beginning so I'm out of things to say. I hope my change to the formatting made it easier to read, and same as before.R&R or no more chapters. 


	3. a speaking of the past

Disclaimer: I don't on Gundam Wing, I do however own Lani, and Jessica, even though she's not in this chapter.or the last one.but she is in the next one! And she's mine! All mine! But you can have her, just 'cause I'm so nice. Just let me know where you put her so I can checkup on her, I care deeply for my creations, I like to see them happy. They're like children to me, only better than children, because they've already gotten past all the really annoying stages.  
  
A/N: That was probably the longest disclaimer ever written. I'm feeling kinda rambly right now so you'll have bear with me. I'm having a bit of an issue because I was watching Andromeda last night (Yes. I do watch Andromeda. Star Trek too.) And I want to tell my sister about it, but she has homework to do and won't listen to me. But I'm going off topic so I'm going to skip right into the story, before I start typing everything out. This is a Gundam Wing fic and here I am talking about Andromeda. No one reading this cares I'm guessing. Soooooooooo.....  
  
Now, Chapter 4!  
  
Lani stared at Duo dumbly.  
  
"You can't tell me you don't know." She laughed. A questioning look fell across Duo's face as he shook his head.  
  
"I know how she seems to feel, but it's better to invesigate the truth," he said. "Ask someone she trusts y'know?" Lani grinned and sat on her bed. Duo clearly wanted to protect his friend's feelings. Funny. Lani thought lying down. I wouln't've thought Heero had feelings. Heero hadn't asked Duo to come she was sure of it. She had kind of a sixth sense about these things. Duo stared at her expectantly.  
  
"If there's one thing I know about Relena, it's this; she never hides her feelings. How she seems to feel is how she feels." Lani said, squirming under her comforter. "Now, I'm going to bed. You can stay and we can talk more, if you want." She added hurriedly as he started to get up. Duo flashed her a grin, still only half standing.  
  
"You sure?" he asked.  
  
"As long as you don't mind that I'll probably end up falling asleep in the middle of a sentence, you're welcome to stay." Lani said, propping herself up on an elbow and looking at him. Duo laughed and dropped back into the chair.  
  
"What d'you want to talk about?" he asked, trying unsuccessfully to stifle a yawn.  
  
"You tired?" Lani asked, eyeing him suspiciously.  
  
"Kinda." He said, resting his head against his shoulder.  
  
"Why don't you lie down. This bed is huge, I bet it'd appreciate some use on the other side." Lani told him, gesturing to the empty area next to her. It could have easily held 5 other people. Lani's heart sped up as Duo considered her offer.  
  
"I dunno. What if someone comes in. and I don't want to fall asleep in here." He said. Lani sighed. Oh honestly! Why's he gotta try to be so damned chivalrous. She thought and flopped back down on her pillow.  
  
"First, no one's going to come in. second, if someone does, it's not like we're going to be molesting each other, I'm not even about to let you under my blankets. Third, we'll make a deal, if I fall asleep, you leave, and if you fall asleep, I'll wake you up. Or if this all makes you that uncomfortable, I'm not going to stop you from just sitting there, or leaving, if that's what you want." She said. Her heart beat heavily as Duo absorbed her words. It just keeps going faster. She noted, as she rolled over onto her stomach and watched him. Her heart began to pound as Duo smiled and stood up. He went over to the bed.  
  
"You're sure about this?" he asked standing beside the bed. Lani twisted onto her side.  
  
"I'm sure about everything I say." She told him, reaching behind her and grabbing a stuffed bear. Duo laid down on the bed as Lani arranged the bear in between them.  
  
"What's with the bear?" Duo asked, turning to face her. Lani looked into his violet eyes. God, he's got really great eyes. She mused before answering.  
  
"Childhood memento." She said simply, fighting to tear her gaze away from his. If she looked much longer, she was afraid she might not be able to stop herself from telling him how she felt.  
  
A/N: Okay, can anyone guess what's going to happen? That's right! This is going to start turning sappy. So if you're not into sap, get out while you can! I can't believe I wrote the junk that's coming up, you guys only have two or three chapters left before the sap comes in. it's not that I don't want you all to read my work, it's just, you should only read as long as you're enjoying it, like my English teacher says, don't read something if it doesn't keep your interest. Also, the chapters are going to start getting A LOT longer. I don't want this fic to end up being, like, 5,000 chapters. Do I really need to say it again?? R&R. if you don't want to leave a review, you could be nice and e-mail me one. As long as you give me one, I'll be happy. What's my e-mail you ask. well go to my profile and SEE!!!! Reviews are lovely things and I want 10 billion of them!!!! So review, review, review. Unless you're Assilem. I don't want any more from you. I live with you fer god's sake!! You can tell me in person, just get off your butt and come find me!! Everyone else, just leave one, or mail me one. Geez this is a long note I guess I'm being rambly again. For putting up with me, I'll only put one author's note in the next few chapters. 


	4. Heero's feelings?

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing, the wonderful, wonderful, wonderful people who created it do.or they'd better, I'm not sure who actually does. I wish I owned Gundam Wing and it's bishi-beautiful boys, but I never get anything I wish for. (  
  
A/N: Just to let you know I changed the formatting again, I'm testing out different formats to find out which is easiest to read. If you've got a preference, tell me in your review, and I'll be sure to try it, or else, it'll probably stay this way. And lucky readers, this is the chapter where I first introduce.dum da dum. the Gundam Boys!!!! Or Duo anyway, he's the only one to appear in my notebook as of yet, and I've got at least 2 more chapters written in there. There are mentions of the others, but I haven't found a way to incorporate the others yet.  
  
And Now. Chapter Three!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
"Sorry 'bout that, Duo." Lani said cheerfully as her guest once again rose to his feet.  
  
"No problem." He said, giving her on of his famous smiles, the one that made every girl in the school melt. "Listen, I wanted to ask you something." He told her as Lani went into her bathroom and closed the screen.  
  
"Go ahead," she told him. "I can still hear you."  
  
"I wanted to ask you about Relena, on behalf of my friend." He said as he fidgeted a bit. Lani stepped out of the bathroom, now wearing a pair of fleece pants and an overly large T-shirt.  
  
"Who's your friend? And why aren't you asking Relena." Lani demanded, pulling her hair into a ponytail. "Come on Duo, tell me." Duo sighed and flopped down into the chair at Lani's desk. Lani folded her arms across her chest and leaned against the wall.  
  
"I'm here for Heero, d'you know him?" Duo asked, glancing over at the slim girl opposite him. Lani wanted to roll her eyes at the braided boy sitting at her desk. Of course she knew Heero! Everyone in the school knew about Heero Yuy. The attractive (though much less so than Duo in Lani's opinion.) boy who rarely spoke to anyone outside his small circle of friends, and even very little with them. He was mysterious, all five of them were. Every girl Lani talked to wanted him, but everyone kept their distance. Relena loved him, and even people who disliked her said she was just way too nice to hurt like that, not to mention, they valued their lives, let Relena be crazy and chase after that homicidal maniac. But, instead of saying any of this, Lani just nodded and bit her tongue.  
  
"Why aren't you talking to Relena?" Lani asked after a moment.  
  
"If I were to ask her this," Duo said with a sigh, "I'd reveal Heero's feelings for her. He should do that.  
  
"Uh huh," Lani said skeptically. "And exactly what are those 'feelings' be?"  
  
"Heero is totally in love with that girl. He wanted me to find out how she felt."  
  
A/N: OOOOOOO! Is Duo serious! Does Heero really love Relena? That was a stupid thing for me to write. Oh well, too late now. Hey! Do you people think I do to much of this? If I do, tell me, I don't want to bother people. Anyway, as always, R&R or no more chapters. You see that nice little button thingy below my note? Click it and punch some letters on your keyboard. Spell out nice things, like, "Good story.", "Write more.", and, "Good work, please continue." I like little comments like that. ^___^ 


	5. A late night confession

Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Gundam Wing. ;_; They do live in my head though. Except Wufei. He moved out. He lives in michelle's head now. She doesn't own them either though.;_;  
  
A/N: I apoligize for abandoning the story so abruptly in the last chapter, but I needed to end. Anyways.oh! I remember now! Yay Megan! You get to be in this chapter! I finally got around to doing more, so this one's for you!  
  
Extra Disclaimer: I don't own Megan any more than I own the G-Boys. Megan owns herself.I own me!!!  
  
Chapter 5  
  
His eyes seemed to draw the truth out of her. Duo broke away from her gaze, hers was having the same effect on him as his was on her - though neither of them knew it.  
  
"Tell me about it," he asked. "Please?"  
  
Lani stared at him, confused.  
  
"Tell you about what?" she asked. Duo turned back to face her, a pleading look in his eyes.  
  
"Your childhood. I want to know what a normal one is like," he said. Lani laughed.  
  
"My childhood was anything but normal. We came to Earth when I was three, from one of the L2 colonies. We lived on one of the small islands off the western coast of America. My parents were special operatives in an underground organization against OZ and the Alliance during the wars. That doesn't make for a normal childhood," Lani said, her speech becoming slower and more littered with yawns the longer she spoke. Duo sighed.  
  
"It sounds interesting. Would you tell me anyway?" he asked. Lani nodded against her pillow, then, speaking slowly, told him.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
(A few hours later)  
  
After swapping stories about their childhoods, their lives during the war (Duo 'conveniently' left out the fact he was a Gundam pilot), and anything else they could think of, Lani and Duo were running out of things to talk about.  
  
There's only one thing left to say. Lani thought as silence filled the room. I've got to tell him. Lani yawned and looked over at Duo, her eyes resisting every second they were open.  
  
"Duo."she said tentatively.  
  
"Hmmmmm?" Duo replied turning his head to face her and forcing his eyes open.  
  
"I need to tell you something," Lani offered, forcing herself to get up and stand. Duo gazed up at her, his eyelids drooping further with every second that passed.  
  
"G'head," he mumbled.  
  
"Give me a minute," Lani said stumbling to the door. Quietly, she left the room and traveled down the corridor as quickly as her tired body would take her. After a few turns, Lani found herself at her best friend Jessica's door. She knocked loudly.  
  
"Lani?" a sleepy voice asked from behind her. Lani spun around, smiling apologetically as she saw her friend Megan standing in her doorway. Megan tucked a stray lock of her long brown hair behind her ear and rubbed one of her matching eyes with a fist.  
  
"Sorry Megan," Lani apologized.  
  
"What's up?" Megan asked, wrapping her tanned arms around her waist, at the point where her dark blue pants met her light blue tank top.  
  
"I'll explain tomorrow," Lani replied, watching as her friend stifled a yawn. Megan nodded sleepily and retreated back into her room, closing the door gently behind her. Lani resumed her knocking until a sleepy-eyed, pajama-clad, Jessica opened the door. Lani almost couldn't stop herself from knocking on Jessica's face. Jessica stared at Lani through squinted eyes.  
  
"Lan? What's wrong? It's two in the morning," Jessica barely managed to mumble, rubbing her eyes with her fists.  
  
"Duo's in my room, and I gotta tell him how I feel about him. I don't think I can do it. Reassure me? Please?" Lani explained, turning the end into a whining plea. Jessica stopped rubbing her eyes and stared at Lani, bewildered.  
  
"I'm not even going to ask why Duo's in your room at 2:00 in the morning. I don't want to think about it," she said, leaning against the doorframe. Lani bounced on her feet.  
  
"Jessica, please. I left him there," she pleaded. Jessica nodded at her.  
  
"Go tell him, Lan. The worst that can happen is he won't return your feelings. Look at it this way, how will you know if he feels the same about you if you don't tell him. Besides, think of how you would feel if you leave without telling him," she said sensibly. Lani smiled at her friend and wrapped her arms around Jessica's neck, a bit of a reach for the considerably shorter Lani.  
  
"Thanks Jess," she said quietly. "And I'm sorry I'm leaving but you understand why. And I'm also sorry I woke you up in the middle of the night." Jessica squeezed Lani, then held her away from her.  
  
"You're welcome. I do understand. No problem. Go tell him. Goodnight," she told Lani, giving her a light shove down the hall.  
  
"G'night Jess," Lani said smiling. Jessica returned the smile and closed the door. Lani went back to her room.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
(Back in Lani's room)  
  
Lani came back into her room. Duo, amazingly still awake, watched as she walked back to the bed and lay down again. When she put her head to the pillow, all the energy she had just minutes before dissipated and left her more drained than she'd ever been.  
  
"You wanted to tell me something?" Duo asked, his eyes wider than they'd been before she left. He seemed more alert than anyone lacking so much in the way of sleep should be.  
  
"Mmm hmmm," Lani confirmed, letting her eyes fall shut.  
  
"What is it?" Duo prodded his voice gentle and understanding, with a hint of impatience slipping in.  
  
"Oh," Lani said sleepily, "I love you Duo Maxwell," she barely managed to mumble before falling asleep. 


	6. a rumor of truth

Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Gundam Wing, no matter how much I wish I did. Besides, I'm just a poor high school student. There'd be no point in suing me.  
  
A/N: UG!! I cannot believe I wrote that last line! In fact, I cannot believe I wrote any of this sap! This isn't a very sappy chapter, but still. Remember all, feedback craved and demanded. I must have it!!!  
  
Chapter 6  
  
Unfortunately, Duo didn't notice Lani fall asleep. He sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He sat in silence for a few moments before speaking.  
  
"You love me?" he asked into the quiet.  
  
"Duo." Lani mumbled in her sleep.  
  
"Yeah?" he asked, still not noticing she was asleep. (~ Sorry everyone! I couldn't help it! He came off as stupid! ~) Then Lani began talking in her sleep again.  
  
"Duo.you've got no idea how long I've wanted." she mumbled. "D.Duo. W.Wait! W.Who are you? Stop! Get away form me!"  
  
Lani's peaceful dream had evidently turned into a nightmare. Despite his earlier deal with Lani, Duo couldn't just leave her like that, fighting wildly against her non-existent attacker. He watched her thrash about for a moment, watching for an opening in her wild jabs and kicks, so he could wake her. As Lani continued her fight, Duo attempted to get in close. Finally he gave up trying to get nearer gently. He grabbed her arms and held them tightly at her sides.  
  
"Lani. Wake up," Duo said, shaking her lightly. Lani stilled and after a moment opened her eyes. Duo released her arms and sat back, watching her in concern. Lani sat as well and turned to face him, tears beginning to fall from her eyes. Duo looked at her, question mingling with the concern in his features.  
  
"What happened?" he asked her gently. Tears fell in a steady stream down Lani's cheeks and her voice came out choked as she tried to hold back sobs.  
  
"Oh Duo!" she wailed quietly, so as no to wake her neighbors. "It was awful! I was dreaming of you, but then it wasn't you. It was someone else, I didn't know who, and he attacked me, I couldn't get him off me!"  
  
As she finished, her attempts to surpress the sobs failed. She sat with her knees drawn to her chest, sobbing into them. Duo slid over to and put an arm around her, drawing her gently to him.  
  
"Shhh. It's okay. It was just a dream," he soothed as she leaned into him, crying into his shirt.  
  
"I'm sorry Duo," she told him through her sobs. "I shouldn't be crying like this."  
  
"Shhh. It's okay. Cry as much as you want."  
  
Duo held Lani as she cried herself to sleep again. Not wanting to leave in case she had another night-mare, and not wanting to disturb her, Duo closed his eyes and got as comfortable as he could. Lani's body was warm against his, giving him no need for a blanket, and he was so tired that within minutes he too was fast asleep.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
(The Next Morning)  
  
Lani woke up to sunlight streaming into her eyes. There shouldn't be sun at my window so early. She thought, throwing her arm over her eyes. Her hand hit the pillow beside her with the sound of a fist hitting paper. Lani wrinkled her forehead and moved her arm from her face. She turned her head and squinted against the light to the source of the sound. Beside her head was a sheet of paper, covered in large, messy lettering. Lani picked it up and held it in front of her face. Six words covered the paper in the large scrawl. The message read:  
  
I LEFT YOU A VID MESSAGE.  
  
A smile found it's way onto Lani's face as she rolled lazily onto the floor. She pushed herself to her feet and made her way slowly to her desk. Bad morning. She noted as she sat down and pulled her laptop over to her. A few quick keys and Duo's cheerful face popped up.  
  
"Morning!" the smiling image said happily, but quietly-Lani was still sleeping when Duo recorded the message, and he didn't want to wake her. "Or should I say afternoon? Whichever applies."  
  
Lani glanced over at her digital clock and frowned.  
  
"I hope you're not mad at me for turning off your alarm, but I figured you'd better sleep," the recording continued. "I hope there were no more bad dreams after I left. I know talking in past tense is kinda weird..but that's how I am! Listen, I'm comin' back to see you tonight. I'm goin' to the city with Heero and the others today. I'll be gone all day, but I've got somethin' I wanna tell ya. So I'll be back! I'll see you later. Oh! One more thing! I read that poem that was on top of the computer, don't be mad. Please! I thought it was really great, really deep and stuff. Gotta go now. Later!"  
  
Duo's image flashed a grin as it reached out and ended the message.  
  
"I don't know why I like that fool so much," Lani mumbled to herself as she stood up and walked over to her closet. Pulling out a pair of khaki pants and a close fitting Hawaiian print shirt she wandered into the bathroom and got dressed. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
(A little later.)  
  
Lani wandered into the dining hall, still rubbing her eyes. Jessica stood up and waved her over. Lani went over, grabbing an apple and a slice of toast on her way. Jessica grinned at Lani as she sat down as she sat down, and the rest of the girls at the table started giggling.  
  
"What?" Lani asked casually, biting into her toast.  
  
"You're up late," Jessica said suggestively. Lani sighed and glared at her friends  
  
"Get your minds outta the gutter," she said, throwing a piece of toast at Jessica. The girls around them burst into further fits of giggles. Jessica grinned at Lani further.  
  
"Whatever you say Lan," she said surpressing her laughter. Lani looked around at the laughing faces.  
  
"Okay, spill. What'd Jessica tell you?" she asked, now finished her apple and rolling the apple through her hands. A few of the girls tried to compose themselves enough to talk, but they weren't given the chance.  
  
"Lani!" a voice shouted from across the room. Lani turned around, only to see Relena, running through the dining hall towards the group. She stopped just behind Lani, who looked up at her.  
  
"Is it true?" Relena asked, breathing heavily.  
  
"Is what true? How long have you been running?" Lani asked in return, eating her apple around her speech.  
  
"From near the back gates," Relena replied, taking a deep breath. "So is it true?"  
  
"Is WHAT true?" Lani demanded. She was becoming really annoyed with Relena lately. She seems to be getting stupider every day. She thought with an inward sigh as Relena stared at her, slightly confused. I can't for the life of me remember why I'm friends with her.  
  
"Heeeelllllllooooooo. Relena. Wake up!" Jessica as Lani watched her, contentedly eating as she waited for a response.  
  
"Oh," Relena said, finally realizing what Lani wanted form her. "Is it true you spent the night with Duo?"  
  
The girls around them all started giggling again. Lani sighed.  
  
"I should've known," she sighed. "Yeah. It's true. But it's not what you think!" she added quickly as giggles turned to horrified gasps. Jessica stood up.  
  
"Walk with me Lan," she said. Lani stood up and followed her out of the room, throwing away the apple core as she left. (Just so I didn't leave it lying around or somethin'.) After a few minutes of walking, Jessica stopped.  
  
"Tell me everything," she ordered, turning towards Lani and smiling.  
  
"First tell me what you said to everyone," Lani countered. Her best friend could be kind of mean to her sometimes, but at least Lani knew why she was friends with her. Jessica grinned down at Lani and put her arm around her shoulders.  
  
"The only thing I said was that you came to my room in the middle of the night, saying something about Duo. Gossip did the rest," she said guiding Lani forward.  
  
"But you knew something like that was going to happen. Right?" Lani asked, shrugging out of Jessica's arm. "And I can walk on my own."  
  
Jessica laughed.  
  
"Okay. And yeah. Sure I knew what was going to happen, but it was funny, so I did it anyway. There, now tell me everything," she said, emphasizing the last word and turning so she was walking backwards in front of Lani.  
  
"Hey! What're we talkin' 'bout?" Megan asked, running up to walk beside them.  
  
"Lani was just about to tell me what happened with Duo last night," Jessica told her with a sly smile.  
  
"Yay!" Megan exclaimed happily. "I wanna know. Is that what all the noise was about last night?"  
  
Lani nodded.  
  
"Go on," Jessica prompted eagerly. Megan stared enthusiastically at Lani.  
  
"All right," Lani said with a sigh. "Where do you want me to start?"  
  
"Oh, I dunno," Jessica replied sarcastically. "How 'bout at the beginning."  
  
"Okay," Lani laughed. "Well.I was born in the L2 colony cluster, up in spa-"  
  
"Hold it!" Jessica interrupted, throwing her hands in the air. "What're you blabbing on about?"  
  
"Honestly woman!" Megan exclaimed in much the same tone. "We don't want you're life story!"  
  
"Well you said to start from the beginning," Lani replied innocently. Jessica sighed exagerattedly.  
  
"Don't go acting all innocent with us," she scolded. "Start with the part where Duo was in your room."  
  
"All right. If that's what you want," Lani said.  
  
"I do," Jessica said, slowly walking across the vast lawns of the school. Lani laughed.  
  
"It sounds like you're trying to marry me," she giggled.  
  
"Forget it. Spill," Megan told her as she tried to hold back her laughter.  
  
"Okay," Lani replied, forcing her laughter down.  
  
A/N: All right. I know I promised not to put another of these in for a while, but I couldn't help myself. I need to apologize for making this chapter so much longer than the others. I wanted to get all the sap out as quickly as possible, so I decided to extend a few chapters. The next one will probably be just as long, if not longer. Someone shoot me now. Stop the sap. ;_; 


	7. Lies unravled

Disclaimer: *sigh* Why do I keep doing these? Y'all know I don't own Gundam Wing. You know I own Lani and Jessica. You should know that I don't own Megan, 'cause she owns herself. If you try to sue me, you're in for a disappointment, 'cause I'm seriously in debt right now. (My local library wants all my money!)  
  
A/N: GAH! This chapter is a gift for Megan! Caulk full of SAP!! SAP! *Giggle* WARNING!! Lots of lovey dovey stuff! I think this is it though. *crosses fingers* Here's to hoping! And anyone who's reading this must now do me a favor. Lemme know what you think, though it doesn't really matter to me so much anymore, I think I'd rather have a few fans and have them be my friends, (like Megan!! ^___^) then have a million fans and not know any of them. But tell me anyway.  
  
Chapter 7  
  
(That night)  
  
Lani sat at her desk; her head propped on her elbow, which she was resting on the wooden surface in front of her. On the desk sat her keyboard. She pressed the keys absently, as she stared at the wall, almost as if she was staring through it. There was a knock on the door and Lani sat straight, playing a short tune as a broad smile spread across her face.  
  
"Come in," she said, turning towards the door.  
  
"Oh. Were you going to bed?" Duo asked from the doorway (oh come on. You knew it was gonna be him! 9_9)  
  
"Nah," Lani said, glancing down at her pajamas. "I just thought I ought to be comfortable while I waited for you to get here."  
  
"All right. Good. Listen," Duo said, coming into the room and closing the door gently behind him. "Last night you said-"  
  
"You know, I'm glad you're here," Lani interrupted. "There's something I wanted to tell you."  
  
"Yeah. That's great. But I came here to tell you something."  
  
"I know. But this is important," Lani told him, turning off her keyboard and storing it in it's case. She got up and moved to sit on her bed. Duo sat down next to her.  
  
"All right," he sighed. "Go ahead."  
  
"Okay. To start with, I happen to remember what I said last night, and you can comment on it all you want, after I finish telling you this," Lani added quickly as Duo opened his mouth to speak. "I've only told Jessica, and the teachers of course, I mean, they need to know. Can you imagine what would happen if I hadn't told them, it'd b-"  
  
"Lani!" Duo interrupted. "Get to the point, please!"  
  
"Oh.right.sorry," Lani said, looking down at her hands.  
  
"Don't worry about it. Go on," he told her gently.  
  
"All right. Um.this is kinda hard, 'cause of what I told you last night, but.I'm leaving."  
  
"For how long?" Duo asked, surprise showing clearly on his face. Lani looked up at him, tears starting to well up in her eyes.  
  
"Probably forever," she told him sadly. "My parents are moving back to outer-space, and they want me to go with them."  
  
Duo got to his feet and started pacing in front of her.  
  
"They're making you go with them?" he asked. Lani shook her head, turning her eyes back to her hands.  
  
"They said it was my choice, but I don't really see any reason to stay. I mean, I can go to school in space too."  
  
"What about your friends? Jessica, Megan, Relena?" Duo demanded. He was clearly frustrated by her news and he was just as clearly trying to stay calm. Lani shook her head again; her eyes still fixed on her hands.  
  
"Jessica promised to come and visit. Megan and Relena'll do the same if I ask them too. Besides.I can always make new friends," Lani said, her voice beginning to quaver. Duo sighed and leaned against the wall.  
  
"Isn't there anything I can say to get you to stay?"  
  
Lani looked up and laughed shakily.  
  
"Not unless what you wanted to tell me is that you're madly in love with me. My parents want me to contact them with my final decision tomorrow.'  
  
Duo left the wall and knelt on the floor in front of her.  
  
"I can't say that," he told her quietly. "But there is someone who I might be in love with." A smile crossed over Duo's face, making Lani's eyes start to tear.  
  
"Who?" she asked shakily.  
  
"Guess," Duo said, his smile broadening and laughter creeping into his voice.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
(About an hour later) (Note: Lani has been guessing this whole time. She finished with every girl in the school a while ago and has since moved on)  
  
"Uh.Oh! I know! It's that blonde guy! The one that's like, a million feet tall!" Lani exclaimed, laughing. All her sadness had dissipated in the last hour and she was thoroughly enjoying her time with Duo. Duo himself was rolling on the floor with laughter.  
  
"God! Could you imagine that?"  
  
"I wouldn't have mentioned it if I couldn't imagine it," Lani gasped out through her laughter.  
  
"All right. That's wrong. Guess again," Duo said as he struggled to catch his breath. Lani shook her head.  
  
"Oh no, I've had enough of this guessing, I've gone through practically everyone in the school. Unless you're in love with one of the teachers, I give up!"  
  
Duo burst into a fresh fit of laughter. Lani's eyes widened in false shock.  
  
"Oh my God!" she exclaimed as she restrained her laughter. "You're in love with a teacher!"  
  
Duo doubled over with laughter. Lani laughed as she watched him clutch his sides.  
  
"No, seriously," he managed to say after a few moments. "You missed one girl."  
  
"Who?" Lani asked, her laughter dying down. Duo sat up and shook his head.  
  
"Naw uh. No way. I'm not telling you. Ya gotta guess."  
  
"Com'on Duo. Just tell me who it is. I'm tired of guessing." Lani swung her legs over the side of the bed and sat, looking down at Duo. He crawled over and knelt in front of her again.  
  
"All right," he said slowly. He took her hands in his own and looked up at her, his eyes sparkling. "It's you."  
  
Lani stared at him in shock  
  
"It can't be me," she said, shaking her head. "Tell me who it really is." She tried to hands away but Duo held fast.  
  
"You," he told her quietly. Lani shook her head again.  
  
"It can't be me," she repeated, her voice almost a whisper. "You said so yourself, you don't love me." She got to her feet, sliding her hands out of Duo's grasp. She took a few steps away from him and stood facing away. Duo stood and went over to her. He put a hand to her shoulder, gently turning her around. Lani stared at him as he repeated the motion with his other hand, so he was standing, both hands on her shoulders, gazing into her eyes. They stood staring at each other for a moment, then, very suddenly; Duo shook his head quickly, pulled Lani towards him, and kissed her. Lani's eyes widened in shock. After a moment, Duo pulled away from her and looked into her eyes once again, a grin spreading across his face, keeping his hands on her shoulders.  
  
"Me?" Lani asked him in a whisper. Duo smiled at her. A big, almost goofy, grin.  
  
"You," he replied, a hint of laughter in his voice. Lani shrugged out of his grip and went back over to her bed. She picked up her bear and started to fidget with it.  
  
"But you said that you weren't in love with me," she protested. Duo smiled and went over to her, pushing her into a sitting position and kneeling once again in front of her.  
  
"I said nothing of the sort," he said smiling and allowing his amusement at her continuing protests to litter his voice.  
  
"But-" Lani started.  
  
"No buts," Duo interrupted, sitting comfortably in front of her. "What I said was, I couldn't say I was madly in love with you. I still can't tell you that. Not yet anyway. I can't put a title on my feelings right now; they're all jumbled up. I don't know if I'll ever be able to. All I know is that I love you and I might just die if you were to leave."  
  
All through his speech, Duo smiled at her. But even so, Lani could tell he was serious. She wasn't sure how she knew, but she did. I wonder.Lani thought.  
  
"D'you understand what I'm tryin' to tell you?" Duo asked after Lani didn't respond.  
  
"Huh? Oh. Yeah. Sure I do," Lani said, startled out of her thoughts. "But Duo.can I ask you something?"  
  
"Yeah. Of course," Duo said with a nod.  
  
"Why do you love me? That is, why did you fall in love with me?"  
  
"I dunno," Duo told her with a shrug. "When I first saw you up close, something kinda clicked and.well.like I said, I dunno."  
  
"I think I know," Lani told him quietly, meeting his gaze evenly, drawing strength from his presence. Confusion spread over Duo's face.  
  
"What d'you mean?" he asked. A small smile appeared on Lani's face.  
  
"NaniLoa," she said, her smile widening as Duo's confusion visually intensified.  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
(The next day)  
  
Lani's eyes fluttered open. That's more like it. She thought as she glanced towards the window. The sun had risen, but had not moved far enough through the sky to shine completely through the window. That never happened until noon. She turned her head towards the other side of the bed and smiled. Thank you NaniLoa. She thought, smiling at Duo's peacefully sleeping form. He had again spent the night in her room, though this time both had slept peacefully through the whole night. (NOTHING happened between them! Get your minds out of the gutter!) Lani rose out of bed, slowly, careful not to disturb Duo. She walked slowly and tiredly over to her desk and opened the seldom-used cubbord. Reaching inside she drew out five candles, an empty terra-cotta dish and a lei. She took the dish to the bathroom and filled it with water. As she placed the dish on the floor in front of the window, she glanced over at Duo and smiled.  
  
She went back over to her desk, gathering the candles and the lei. She set four of the candles around the dish and placed the fifth in the center. She ran fingers over the silken flowers of the lei. This'll have to do. She thought, placing the lei into the water so it surrounded the candle. I'm sorry NaniLoa, she thought as she lit the candles. But with the little amount of prayer I do, real flowers just aren't practical. Lan I knelt in front of the dish and folded her hands on her lap.  
  
"I thank you NaniLoa. I thank you for your influence on all lovers and I thank you for giving me this wonderful gift," she muttered. A quiet chuckle from behind her jolted Lani out of her prayer.  
  
"What'cha doin'?" Duo asked, his voice quiet yet still filled with mirth.  
  
"Thanking NaniLoa," Lani replied simply, turning around and smiling at him. Duo rolled onto his side and propped himself up on his elbow.  
  
"You really think I'm that wonderful?"  
  
"How long have you been awake?" Lani replied turning and blowing out the candles.  
  
"Long enough. Answer my question." Lani smiled to herself as she picked up her water dish and carried it to the bathroom again. She stopped just in front of the door and turned her smile on Duo.  
  
"More than you know," she told him, still smiling. Before Duo could respond, she turned away and went into the bathroom 


End file.
